Friday, November 4, 2005
Breakfast: a banana. Met with Susie and Cindy about next steps for the video of a recent lecture they want to put online. We agreed the prep would be done out of house. (Why does no one say out-house as the opposite of in-house?) Betty-ann, Chris, Cindy, Joel, James, Susie, and I watched a (different) video Susie obtained called "Pharmacists: Unsung Heroes" which was created by public television station WLIW in New York. The video describes the job that pharmacists do, and the title refers to how pharmacists are often overlooked as a critical component of health care. The video includes many people from UCSF. It referred to the PharmD degree program as a 6-year program which seemed strange to me but I learned today that a six-year program is more common on the east coast of the United States. On the US west coast, a 4-year program is more common, and our program at UCSF is 4 years (or slightly under, depending on whom you ask). Helped Heather (via Joel) figure out what to do with the Outlook Express error message "Message is no longer available on the server." (Answer: Search Google.) Late lunch with Joel: we both had fish and chips from the cafeteria. Met with student KB—anti-virus questions. Dinner with Patrick at Pasta Pomodoro (415-566-0900, 816 Irving Street, cross street 9th, MUNI: N-Judah, 44, 71). I'm a member of the Pasta Pomodoro club—you can sign up at any restaurant—and they'll rather infrequently (a good thing) send you news and offers in the mail. I don't join many clubs, but this one I'm satisfied with because the food and service of Pasta Pomodoro is so consistently good. Recently, the offer they sent was for two free truffle desserts: "As a valued member of my email club, I would like to invite you to come in and taste my new dessert. I have just put the finishing touches on a new truffle, a rich and creamy treat made with cocoa, rum and bits of biscotti rolled in cocoa powder and served with sweet marscarpone cream. Please print and present this offer to your server, and you will receive: One Free Truffle Dessert per person at your table." The truffle was delicious, but I personally prefer the tiramisu better. We learned, however, that the truffle's price was only $1.75—very reasonable for what we received. Upon learning the price, we decided we would indeed order it again. Our entire bill before tip was $27.34—I had forgotten how reasonably priced a dinner can be at Pasta Pomodoro. We had: two iced teas, we shared an insalata di biete (beet salad), I had ravioli di magro (large ricotta and spinach ravioli in pomodoro sauce), Patrick had healthy fish (spaghetti with salmon). When we ordered dessert, we were told that they only had 3 left and asked us if we would order a different dessert in the place of one of them—also free. We happily agreed because it enabled us to try a different dessert. We opted for the crostata amaretti, which we liked better than the truffle. Small, round amaretti cookies are baked in a tart along with a layer of custard. A slice is served atop the sweet and smooth mascarpone cream. The sweet almond flavor is striking, and it brings a smile to the face. Patrick thought the almond flavor could be stronger, but I thought it was just right. (Almond is one of his favorite flavors, so maybe that's why.) The truffle is not on the menu—they're field testing it, but I imagine if you ask sweetly and bat your eyelashes you might be able to convince them to let you try it. The crostata appeared on a tableside specials card instead of the menu—visit soon if you want to try that one. Our server was Brielle who was great. We sat at table 28/1 in the center front section between two families with young children. Patrick didn't like how one parent permitted her child to crawl along the top of the banquette, but otherwise the kids were quiet and well-behaved. I found a recipe for "Custard-Filled Crostata with Amaretti" on foodandwine.com, but their website says, "Recipes are only available to Food & Wine magazine subscribers and newsstand buyers" but I found a workaround anyhow—they aren't hiding their content very securely.